SAFETY action on a road which claimed the lives of two Wolverley friends is on hold for at least three months.

Worcestershire County Council has to await a coroner's report before deciding on safety measures at the Park Gate junction on the A451 Kidderminster to Stourbridge road. A host of flowers adorns the scene of the crash which claimed the lives of James Waldron and Shaun Edwards.

James Waldron, 19, and Shaun Edwards, 20, both of Wardle Way, died after an accident at the junction on Sunday, May 6.

Veteran Wolverley district and county councillor John Wardle decried the delay in action but said the council was sympathetic to improvements.

He said: "These coroners reports do seem to take a long time but we have to wait for their recommendations.

"The coroner may decide the road was not a cause of death in this instance. However, there have been too many accidents there over the years for it not to be cause for concern.

"I have discussed the matter with county officers. Improvements could be made and there would be sufficient funding - it's now a matter of waiting for the coroner's report."

Mr Wardle has long campaigned for safety at the junction which he says is more of a V-turn than a U-turn.

Vehicles have to turn across two streams of traffic to turn right into Kidderminster.

An inquest into the deaths of James and Shaun has been opened and adjourned for three months.

Coroner Victor Round told a Worcester hearing James was driving a Citroen Saxo when it was in collision with another car at the Park Gate Land junction.

It then hit a tree.

Shaun died soon after the accident on the same night.

James died early the following day while undergoing emergency surgery.

The deaths have greatly affected Wolverley villagers who were still coming to terms with the loss of best friends Lee Antcliff, 23 and Richard Carrington, 22, who died in separate road accidents in the last six months.